J.R. DeShazo

AREAS OF INTEREST

SELECTED BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS

Tropical countries may be willing to pay more to protect their forests

Tropical forests, especially the primary tropical forests that are globally important for biodiversity conservation and carbon storage, are increasingly concentrated in relatively wealthier developing countries. This creates an opportunity for domestic funding by these countries to play a larger role in (i) closing the funding gap for tropical forest conservation, and (ii) paying for supplementary conservation actions linked to international payments for reduced greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

A choice model based on utility in a sequence of prospective future health states permits us to generalize the concept of the value of statistical life (VSL). Our representative national survey asks individuals to choose between costly risk-reducing programs and the status quo in randomized stated choice scenarios. Our model allows for separate marginal utilities for discounted net income and avoided illness years, post-illness years, and lost life-years. Our estimates permit calculation of overall willingness to pay to reduce risks for a wide variety of different prospective illness profiles. These can be benchmarked against the standard VSL as a special case.

J.R. DeShazo, Director of the UCLA Luskin Center, and Manuel Pastor and Mirabai Auer of USC's Program for Environment and Regional Equity, co-authored the report. They presented their findings at UCLA during the Los Angeles Business Council's annual Mayoral Housing, Transportation and Jobs Summit, which was also attended by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and mayoral hopefuls City Council President Eric Garcetti, City Controller Wendy Greuel and City Councilwoman Jan Perry.

J.R. DeShazo is the Director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at the University of California at Los Angeles. He also is a Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Public Policy in the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA, where he is an expert in economics, public finance, and organizational governance. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Harvard University and a M.Sc. in Economics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He was the Director of the Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at UCLA for 5 years (2004-2011). He was awarded Professor of the Year, Masters Program in Public Policy, UCLA in 2001, 2005, and 2007. He received the Center for American Politics and Public Policy Fellowship at UCLA in 1999. He was a faculty associate at the Harvard Institute for International Development (1997-2000), where he was the Commencement Marshal at Harvard University in 1997, received the Harvard University Fellowship in 1992-1995, and was a Marshall Scholar Nominee in 1989. Dr. DeShazo has published over 40 articles and has over 800 citations in Google Scholar.

Dr. DeShazo’s recent research has focused on local public finance, regulatory reform, climate change policy, and solar energy policy. He advises the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Metropolitan Water District, and the Los Angeles Planning Department, among key agencies. His work also supports the California Air Resources Board and the Southern California Association in their effort to implement AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, and its complementary SB 375, transportation and land use bill. Dr. DeShazo has previously advised the US Environmental Protection Agency, United Nations, UNEP, the World Bank, the European Union, the Central American Bank for Development and Integration, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Tinker Foundation, the McArthur Foundation, and the Ford Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, RARE, Catholic Relief Service, Department of Interior, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, United States Agency for International Development, and United States Geological Survey.

48. “Los Angeles Solar Atlas.” J.R. DeShazo, R. Matulka, and N. Wong. Produced by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation with financial and data support from Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Business Council, and the UCLA Lewis Center. (2011)

57. “REACHING THE TIPPING POINT IN LOS ANGELES: An Evaluation of the Safer Cities Initiative in MacArthur Park.” J.R. DeShazo and M. Klieman. Report prepared for Hanover Associates on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department. (2004)

62. “An Economic Model of Smallholder Deforestation: A Consideration of the Shadow Value of Land on the Frontier.” R. DeShazo and J.R. DeShazo. In International Symposium on Tropical Forest Management in Asia Proceedings, Oslo, Norway. (1994)

Ph.D., Urban Planning, Economics Concentration (Harvard University, 1997); M.Sc., Oxford University, St. Antony’s College (1991) Development Economics, Rhodes Scholar; B.A., College of William and Mary (1989) Economics and History (Interdisciplinary) with honors

Bio:

J.R. DeShazo is the Director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at the University of California at Los Angeles. He also is a Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Public Policy in the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA, where he is an expert in economics, public finance, and organizational governance. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Harvard University and a M.Sc. in Economics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He was the Director of the Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at UCLA for 5 years (2004-2011). He was awarded Professor of the Year, Masters Program in Public Policy, UCLA in 2001, 2005, and 2007. He received the Center for American Politics and Public Policy Fellowship at UCLA in 1999. He was a faculty associate at the Harvard Institute for International Development (1997-2000), where he was the Commencement Marshal at Harvard University in 1997, received the Harvard University Fellowship in 1992-1995, and was a Marshall Scholar Nominee in 1989. Dr. DeShazo has published over 40 articles and has over 800 citations in Google Scholar.

Dr. DeShazo’s recent research has focused on local public finance, regulatory reform, climate change policy, and solar energy policy. He advises the Los Angeles City Council, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the Metropolitan Water District, and the Los Angeles Planning Department, among key agencies. His work also supports the California Air Resources Board and the Southern California Association in their effort to implement AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, and its complementary SB 375, transportation and land use bill. Dr. DeShazo has previously advised the US Environmental Protection Agency, United Nations, UNEP, the World Bank, the European Union, the Central American Bank for Development and Integration, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Tinker Foundation, the McArthur Foundation, and the Ford Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, RARE, Catholic Relief Service, Department of Interior, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, United States Agency for International Development, and United States Geological Survey.

48. “Los Angeles Solar Atlas.” J.R. DeShazo, R. Matulka, and N. Wong. Produced by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation with financial and data support from Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Business Council, and the UCLA Lewis Center. (2011)

57. “REACHING THE TIPPING POINT IN LOS ANGELES: An Evaluation of the Safer Cities Initiative in MacArthur Park.” J.R. DeShazo and M. Klieman. Report prepared for Hanover Associates on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department. (2004)

62. “An Economic Model of Smallholder Deforestation: A Consideration of the Shadow Value of Land on the Frontier.” R. DeShazo and J.R. DeShazo. In International Symposium on Tropical Forest Management in Asia Proceedings, Oslo, Norway. (1994)